Date: 23 June 2010

Venue: Clifton House, Belfast

Engaging with people and communities is essential to achieve policies and actions that strengthen equity in health in a sustainable way. While the importance of engagement is now often recognised, it is often difficult to assess what works most effectively. This lecture explored what constitutes effective engagement, how it can be done and how it can be measured.

Barbara McCabe (0.18MB) from Queen’s University of Belfast introduced different elements and types of community engagement and emphasised the importance of choosing appropriate methods.

Joanne Morgan (0.18MB) from Community Development and Health Network presented two tools developed by the Network, the Engagement  Toolkit for Commissioners and Community Development Performance Management Framework and gave examples of how the tools can be used across sectors.

Norman Morrow (2.24MB), Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety outlined how the successful Building the Community-Pharmacy Partnership project has contributed to tackling inequalities in health.

Michelle Tennyson and Martin Quinn (3.78MB) from the Public Health Agency completed the day by presenting the Personal and Public Involvement approach and how its effectiveness has been measured.